Dragon Ball Z: Power of Unknown
by UltraQuest
Summary: One-shot. A new threat threatens the world that the Z-Fighters have been protecting for so long. However, this being is high above their expectations, in terms of both power, and weirdness. And creepiness. How will the Z-Fighters win this fight? Find out here! (takes place after Son Goku and his Friends Return, and before Battle of Gods)


Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, or any related spin-offs or games. Akira Toriyama, Toei Animation, FUNimation, and the like own the entire Dragon Ball franchise. Or parts of it. I'm not sure.

A man stood in a silenced room. He attatched a fabric belt to his orange clothing, and put on blue armbands. The person then did some stretches with his arms and legs, and quickly followed with a couple of punches. A shout was heard from another portion of the building. "Goku?" a female voiced called.

"Yeah, Chi-Chi?" Goku replied.

A black-haired, purple chinese dress wearing woman peered through the door. This woman appeared to be wanting something. "Oh good, you're up." the woman, named Chi-Chi noticed. Chi-Chi's husband was also black-haired, and was wearing an orange gi, along with darkblue wristbands, blue boots that were lined with yellow laces, and a blue sash over his waist. Most noticeable was his signature black hair. "Well, are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Goku asked, confused.

Chi-Chi sighed. "Oh my god...YOU DON'T REMEMBER?" Her sudden volume raise gave Goku a little jump. Of course, who wouldn't jump at something like this? Exactly.

"Uh...no?" Goku chuckled, grinning. He was used to his wife's out-of-the-blue anger outbursts, especially since he knew he didn't have the biggest brain, but he is an expert in combat; he knows that much for sure.

"YOU SAID YOU WOULD TAKE GOTEN TO HIS PLAYDATE WITH TRUNKS!" Chi-Chi yelled, not letting her anger wear out anytime soon. Goten was the second of their sons, after Gohan. Goten bears much resemblance to Goku, right down to the exact same hairstyle and personality. Both love food, fun, animals and food. On the other hand, Gohan does love food, but due to Chi-Chi, was forced to think more of getting a good education, making the half-saiyan more of a thinker as opposed to a fighter. He also prefers wearing a purple gi, as opposed to his father's orange gi. "YOU EVEN SAID YOU WOULDN'T FORGET!"

Goku froze. He quickly realised he had in fact said that, only yesterday. "Oh. Sorry, Chi-Chi! I'll get right on it!" He sped out of the room, and sprinted towards the front door, where he found a certain someone.

"Forgot again?" Gohan asked, staring at his father.

"Yeah, I kinda did." Goku replied, stratching the back of his head.

"So that's why mum's been shouting. I figured as much." Gohan said. "I finished my homework, so I'm just gonna go train outside."

"Awesome." Goku commented, leaving the house with his son. Outside, Goten was waiting, as impatient as ever.

"Come on, come on dad! I'm gonna be late!" he yelled, hyperactively.

Goku grinned. "Don't worry, we won't be late if I use Instant Transmission." Instant Transmisson is a technique of Goku's, which allows him to teleport anywhere in the world instantly, just as long as there's a life force (ki signature) in the area.

"But doesn't that require an energy signal? Wouldn't that be a bit intruding, when they're just minding their own thing, and you two appear out of nowhere?" Gohan brought up.

"I'm sure they won't mind. Especially when they've been expecting us!" Goku countered.

Goten wasn't having any of this talk. "Come on! I don't care how we do it, just as long as we get there!" he said.

"Alright, alright. See ya later Gohan." Goku said, grabbing onto Goten's arm gently, and teleporting to somewhere else.

Gohan, purple gi, red sash and all, stood perfectly still. "Great, time for some training!" he exclaimed to himself, flexing his arm and leg muscles. He punched, multiple times, so quickly that a regular human would not even be able to recognise what was going on. Afterwards, he attempted to do the same thing with his legs, resulting in a success. "Let's try a Kamehameha." A Kamehameha is the signature attack of Goku, passed on down his family. He originally learnt it as a child, so many years ago. It looks like a beam of blue energy, formed by concentrating ki into a V-like shape with your hands, then releasing it out in front of you. Gohan did just this, with a particulary large one being released. "Nice! That one looked pretty good! Now, let's see how my strength in Super Saiyan's faring!" A Saiyan is an alien race, whose homeplanet got annihilated by the monstrous Frieza. Only a small handful survived. Saiyans are considered to be the greatest warrior race, as whenever they recieve serious damage from a battle, their strength grows if they survive. Super Saiyans are the stuff of legends among the Saiyans, as it had not been performed for a thousand years when the story was a common topic among the citizens of Planet Vegeta (the name of the Saiyan homeplanet). These transformations increase a regular Saiyan's power, speed and durability immensely, already adding to an insane strength someone may have. Gohan ascended to the regular Super Saiyan state, did some super-fast punches and kicks, and then transformed further. There are three known Super Saiyan transformations, though someone with enough power may be able to discover a fourth, or fifth. Gohan can only reach up to the second state, overwise known as Super Saiyan 2.

Meanwhile, Goku had used Instant Transmission to get him and Goten over to the Capsule Corporation, the headquarters of the company with the same name, owned by the Brief family. Dr. Brief and Mrs. Brief had a daughter, who coincidently is one of Goku's greatest friends. Bulma Brief assists her father in creating inventions for Capsule Corp everyday, whilst still attending to her husband and son, Vegeta, the prince of all Saiyans, and Trunks, respectively. Vegeta happens to be Goku's most persistant rival, who always trains, just so the former can surpass the latter in power. Trunks is also Goten's best friend. Both kids and Vegeta have reached Super Saiyan, while the adult had gotten to Super Saiyan 2. Luckily, Trunks and Bulma were waiting just outside the front doors to Capulse Corporation, and Goku had focused his ki upon them. "Hey, Goku." Bulma welcomed.

"Hi, Bulma." Goku replied. "Is Trunks ready?"

"Yeah...just get on with it." Trunks responded, ushering Goten to follow him inside.

"How's Vegeta?" Goku asked.

"He's fine, just being his stubborn self, like usual." Bulma answered. "How's Chi-Chi? I haven't spoken to her in a good while."

"She's doing great! Her cooking's getting better and better by the day!" Goku joked. "Hope the boys won't cause too much trouble. See ya!" He used Instant Transmission once more, to teleport back to his home.

Bulma waved as her friend went, then looked behind her to find someone. "How long have you been there, Vegeta?" she asked.

"Long enough to have two kids pass by me." Vegeta responded. "So Kakarot's boy's here for that ridiculous playdate, I see."

"Hey, playdates aren't ridiculous! They're good for kids to help devel-wait, what am I kidding? There's no point in arguing with the egotistical prince." Bulma explained.

"I'm glad you see it my way." Vegeta said. "Now stay out of it, because I wish to train." He walked into the building, and towards the backgarden.

She sighed, and made her way inside. Bulma walked up the stairs that were on her left, and entered the room on the top floor. When she walked in, she was greeted by her parents. "Hi there, Bulma!" Mrs. Brief greeted.

"Hi, mother. How are things going here?" Bulma asked.

"Fairly average, my dear. Has Goten arrived yet?" Mr. Brief replied.

"The boys are already downstairs, most likely playing with some toys. Let me check on 'em." Bulma answered. "See ya two later." She walked out of the room, then all the way downstairs, to Trunks' room, where she assumed the two children would go. And she was correct.

"Trunks! You can't do that, that's cheating!" Goten complained.

"Why? I made up the rules, after all." Trunks countered.

"But it's unfair!" Goten continued, getting increasingly frustrated.

"It can't be unfair if it's perfectly accepted within the rules. You're just mad because you're losing!" Trunks accused.

"No I'm not! Shut up!" Goten growled, energy rapidly charging around him.

"Don't tell me to shut up! You shut up!" Trunks returned, his energy also charging.

"Hey boys, play nice!" Bulma ordered, raising her voice. This order appeared to fall on deaf ears, as neither of the boys seemed to acknowledge that she was even in the room.

Goten charged up, aura fluctuating. His hair turned gold, his power increasing. Trunks did the exact same thing, until both eventually became Super Saiyan. Bulma was only a regular human, so the presence of two Super Saiyans made her flinch somewhat. Goten charged towards Trunks and punched him square in the chest, forcing him back into the wall. Trunks quickly recovered and fired a regular energy beam, Goten reflecting it with his own. "Boys! No Super Saiyans or energy inside the house!" Again, this didn't even seem to bother the two warriors, as they just kept on fighting. Trunks delivered a flurry of punches and kicks, most of which Goten blocked.

"Kamekameha!" Goten yelled, firing the blue energy beam. Trunks countered with a Double Buster - his own energy-based technique. This initiated a beam struggle, with the Double Buster seeming to come out on top.

Bulma had no choice but to resort to her last method. "ICE CREAM!" she yelled.

This brought the attention of both boys, of which powered down their attacks and reverted to their original forms at the mention of the word. "Ice...cream? Where?" they both said, in perfect sync.

_Oh great, I'll have to get them ice cream now..._ Bulma thought, realising her mistake. "Who wants ice cream from across the street?!"

"I do, I do!" both children jostled in joy.

"I'm gonna buy you two some, only if both of you apologise...and mean it!" Bulma ordered.

"Sorry Goten..." Trunks apologised.

"Sorry Trunks..." Goten added.

"Good. Now, ice cream time!" Bulma announced, leaving the room. Both kids were extremely happy, as they followed the adult female out of the building, and across the street. They were each positively bouncing with joy, and equally earned looks from the general public. Bulma herself was slightly embarrassed, but mostly she didn't care. Not one bit.

Meanwhile, at Goku and Chi-Chi's place of residence, Goku was training with Gohan. Both were in their regular Super Saiyan forms. "So Gohan, you ready for some sparring?" Goku asked his son.

"Sure, dad." Gohan responded. "On the count of three...one...two...three!"

Goku charged ahead, while Gohan remained rigid, in a defensive stance. Goku tried breaking this defence with some serious punch and kick barrages, but his son remained still. What happened next surprised Gohan, as Goku grabbed Gohan and performed a DragonThrow - a throwing technique where the user spins his/her opponent around and launches them - followed up by a Kamehameha. Gohan still fought back, firing a barrage of energy balls. On the flip side, Goku returned the favour with his own technique - the Instant Transmission. Gohan immediately sensed where he teleported to; right behind him, so he tried a punch, but Goku blocked with his own arm, causing a struggle between the family members. However, Gohan brought his free hand up and fired a simple energy blast to force Goku away, and then quickly released a Masenko - a beam of yellow energy that spreads out more the longer it gets - which Goku countered, using his Kamehameha. "Good going, Gohan! I can see you've been training well!" Goku commented.

"Thanks, dad! I've been working hard, both on my strength, and my mind." Gohan replied.

"Good!" Goku said. "Feel like stopping? I think Chi-Chi's cooking up something nice."

"Sure, I could use some lunch." Gohan replied. He and his father powered down to their regular selves, and went inside the house. Both smelled the delicious scent, and quickly sped to the wooden dining table. Of course, they were careful to not break anything. They sped there faster then Sonic the Hedgehog could- oh wait, wrong fic. Anyway, Chi-Chi had already set out the food; rice balls, chicken and sushi, with an overadbundance of everything in order to satisfy the pair of Saiyans' hunger. The meal started with the finish of bowl number twenty-three. They were that fast.

"Good food?" Chi-Chi asked, upon delivering bowl number fourty-five of sushi.

"Yeaf, itz greta!" Goku responded, with a ton of food in his mouth. Obviously, that would translate to "Yeah, it's great!"

"Um-huh!" Gohan added, with food in his mouth. Translation: "Uh-huh!" Food parts were being spat out, and thrown around.

"Great." Chi-Chi said. Translation: "Great."

Back in West City (the location of Capsule Corporation), Bulma had reached the ice cream place, and encountered a familiar face, though it was more familiar to the boys. "Videl?" Goten asked in disbelief.

"Oh hey guys!" Videl responded, holding two ice creams in her hand. One a whippy, the other a chocolate with a flake.

"Videl? What are you doing here?" Bulma asked. "Don't you live in Hercule City?"

"I do, but all the ice cream place owners are striking. Something about not being paid as much as they should. Dad's down there dealing with them, and he and Buu felt like having some ice cream; so here I am!" Videl explained. "I would get some for myself, but..."

"But what?" Trunks asked.

"...I forgot the extra money..." the human facepalmed.

"Well, why don't I lend you some, then?" Bulma suggested.

"You sure?" Videl asked.

"I own a multi-million, possibly billion, company. Ice cream is like dust to me." Bulma joked, as she brought out some zenny, enough for a spare ice cream, and possibly even a loaf of bread.

"Thanks!" Videl thanked, turning to the ice cream counter. Moments later, she turned around again, holding a third ice cream.

"Keep the change." Bulma added.

"Thanks again, Bulma." Videl continued. She left the building, and Bulma took her turn at the counter.

"Mum, I want a mint chocolate." Trunks said.

"What's the magic word?" Bulma questioned.

Trunks sighed. "Pleeeease..."

"Good. And you, Goten?" Bulma asked.

"I wanna flake, please!" Goten exclaimed.

"Okay." Bulma nodded. She turned to the counter and asked for the same things that Goten and Trunks asked for, and came back with the correct orders. They left the building, the boys quickly ate their ice creams and pondered on what to do next.

"Can we go to the park?" Trunks asked.

"Sure. But I have to be there to watch you guys!" Bulma said.

"Yay!" Goten exclaimed.

"Dude, why are you so hyper today?" Trunks asked, smirking.

"I don't know!" Goten exclaimed, literally bouncing all over the place.

Upon Kami's Lookout (a place where Dende, the guardian of Earth, and Mr. Popo, the guardian's attendant), said residents were discussing many things. Many...important things.

"Mr. Popo." Dende said. "I've got a question."

"Sure, what is it, Dende?" Mr. Popo responded.

"Since this place used to be called Kami's Lookout when Kami was around, wouldn't it be called Dende's Lookout now?" Dende asked. "It's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while."

"Well, I'm not too sure. I guess it would be called whatever you want." Mr. Popo replied.

Dende thought for a moment. He considered his choices - to keep the current name of the lookout, or to change it to Dende's Lookout. This was difficult, but luckily, there was no rush, as Mr. Popo reminded him. "I'll keep the name to same. I wish to honour the past guardian."

"Very well then." Mr. Popo commented.

"I don't suppose you-" Dende continued, before being interrupted.

"-Dende, you sense it, don't you?" Mr. Popo interrupted.

Dende sighed. "Yeah...I do."

"You are aware that it is nothing to be worried about, yes?" Mr. Popo asked.

"Yes. It can be easily dealt with, but I still have a bad feeling..." Dende affirmed. "A sense of foreboding. I feel that today's going to turn out wrong."

The trio made their way over to the West City Park, the boys instantly darted for the many slides that were available. Bulma continued to keep watch.

"Hey Goten, you go first." Trunks said, upon reaching the top of an orange slide. He made way for his friend.

"Really, Trunks?" Goten asked, in disbelief.

"Yeah, go for it." Trunks replied. Goten climbed up the ladder, and slid down the slide. Trunks came crashing down shortly afterwards. "I didn't say I'd wait for you."

Both kids ended up laughing, all while spending the rest of their time in the park having fun. Goten had found a ball, and started playing catch with his best friend. They seemed to be doing well - no dropping, but there were a number of times when they quickly flew upwards in order to successfully catch the ball after the other had thrown it too high. However, at one point, a taller human came along. He was watching the two boys playing, and as soon as Trunks threw it wide, he shot straight for it. "Hey, can you give us our ball back please?" Goten asked, turning around.

"Nope. It's my ball now." the meaner boy taunted. "Go get your own!"

"But we were playing with that!" Goten exclaimed.

"Not anymore, squirt!" the evil lad barked. "Scram!"

Trunks walked up to the scene. "Goten, what's goin' on?"

"This boy took our ball! And he's not giving it back!" Goten cried, depressed.

"Really?" Trunks asked, facing the boy. "Come on, we were playing with that."

"I told your friend to scram; take a hint and do the same thing!" he shouted.

"Oh, I see. You obviously have nothing better to do then to steal little kids' toys and playthings." Trunks noted. "Wanna meet a friend of mine?"

"I don't have time for little runts like you! Get outta here!" the boy roared.

Trunks wasn't fazed. And he was annoyed, so he quickly nabbed the ball out of the meaner kid's hand, and punched him. Due to being much stronger, said boy flew back quite a bit. "Done." he said, handing the ball back to Goten.

"Thanks, Trunks!" Goten exclaimed, continuing on with the game.

In the city, something was stirring...a darkness. A deep darkness, strolling the road. All around it, people were running, cars were blaring off, others were staring. Then again, people of that last category didn't wait around for long, as buildings were crumbling, debris being the only thing left in it's wake. However, a certain someone wasn't running, neither staring. She was only eating an ice cream. "What's going on?" she asked herself, finishing one out of the three ice creams she was holding. "Whatever it is, it looks weak. I bet even I could take it!" Videl quickly stood in the darkness' way, preventing it from advancing in the city any further. "End of the line! What, or who, are you, and why are you here?"

No response. It only remained rigid, until after a few seconds, when it started molding into a humanoid shape, still made of complete darkness. This shape only reminded Videl of someone. "Is that..._me_? This...thing's giving me the creeps." She took a deep breath. _Come on Videl, you're the daughter of Mr. Satan, you can be brave...be brave... _Videl stepped back somewhat, and then started running forward. As she reached the darkness, she kicked right through it. Literally. However, it only made a hole, of which filled back with darkness shortly afterwards. "But...but; I took a run-up. That's supposed to work!" What this thing did next creeped her out. It took some large steps back, and did _exactly the same she just did_, as if it were a mirror. This attack collided with the real thing's chest, causing her to fall on the road with her back. It hurt. She dropped the two un-eaten ice creams as a result. "Argh...what WAS that?"

With the lookout, Dende and Mr. Popo felt uneasy, just like the Namekian felt before. The power they sensed earlier was increasing. "I see what you mean, Dende. That human girl has just been...mirrored." Mr. Popo commented, having seen Videl's encounter with the darkness.

"The fact that it managed to copy Videl's actions completely...if it were to do that with someone else, this could prove to be a real problem." Dende commented. "We need to get rid of this quickly."

Goten and Trunks had fallen asleep under a tree, in West City's park. Bulma silently watched, as to not wake them up. However, the sounds of people screaming in fear and agony ticked her off. For some reason, this didn't even seem to reach the sleeper's ears. _If I were to walk off temporarily...that should be good, as long as they don't wake up. _She thought, standing up from the bench and proceeding into the main city, where the noises appeared to be coming from. She found cars parked improperly, groups of people running about, buildings collapsed, and someone lying in the road, infront of something dark. As she walked closer to the scene, she found the dark thing to be more humanoid, and the human lying in the road to be... "Videl?"

"Hey, Bulma..." Videl croaked, struggling to get words out. "I'm not doin' so well, am I?"

"What _happened _to you?" Bulma asked, running to her friend.

"This...darkness, or whatever it is...run." Videl warned. "Run far, Bulma. Get someone..."

"Get who? What is this Videl? Videl?" Bulma asked, shaking the young woman's body, hoping to get answers for her questions. This seemed to be a lost cause.

The darkness was watching. It was going to advance further, but since Bulma was in the way, it decided to run towards her, trying to do the exact same things it did to Videl. It viciously tore at her, a relenting assault that never ended. Bulma was about to recieve the same fate. She screamed. Loudly.

Trunks' ear twitched. He sat up, and took a look around. Nobody was in the park. His mother wasn't on the bench when he last saw her, the mean kid from earlier was gone. It was only him and Goten, whom was still sleeping. "Mum?" he called. "Mum?" No answer. He did hear a ton of screaming coming from the city. "Goten, get up." He shook the younger boy until his own ear twitched.

"Hey...I was having a good dream!" Goten complained.

Trunks stood up. "Sorry Goten, but something's gone wrong in the city."

"What's gone wrong?" Goten asked. He noticed that Bulma wasn't present. "Where's Bulma?"

"That's what I'm wondering. Come on, quickly." Trunks answered, ushering Goten to follow him into the main West City area. They saw the exact same thing Bulma saw.

"Whoa, what happened? Why are some of the buildings hurt?" Goten noticed. He looked to the side, and saw two bodies lying in the middle of the road, with some sort of pool of darkness, making it's way up the street. "Trunks, I found your mum!"

Trunks looked to the same spot - and freaked out. He quickly rushed to the one that looked just like his mother, and found that his guess was correct, unfortunately. "Mom? You okay?" he asked, kneeling over.

"T-Trunks...get your father..." Bulma croaked. She had bruises all around her body.

"Who...who did this, mum? Who did this?" Trunks asked, nearly shedding a tear.

"The darkness...stop it...it needs to be stopped..." Videl added, barely able to finish her sentence. Goten came along.

"Trunks, what happened to your mum and Videl?" he asked.

"Something about...darkness? I don't understand." Trunks answered.

Goten noticed something dark moving in the corner of his eye. Coincidentally, it was moving around the corner of the street. He pointed towards it. "What's that?"

Trunks looked his way, and noticed the same thing. "Mum, is that thing the darkness?" She nodded. "That settles it. Come Goten, I'm gonna take this thing down." He sped off around the corner - with Goten in tow - and became a roadblock for the dark creature. "Stop! I'm not gonna let you get away, especially when you hurt my mum!" He transformed into Super Saiyan, and the darkness turned into that humanoid shape once more. Goten moved out of the way, as Trunks tried to punch his opponent, to no avail. The darkness retaliated with the same kind of punch used upon it.

"What's it's name?" Goten asked.

"It's name? It's a freak of nature, that's it's name!" Super Saiyan Trunks yelled, firing an energy blast. It seemed to do something - but it only had the same effect as a physical attack. Of course, the energy blast was sent back, but at a more powerful force, and a blackened-purple energy colour. It then released more and more energy spheres, each one doing decent damage to the young boy. "Why is it so strong..."

"I'll help, Trunks!" Goten confidently said. He charged up his ki, and turned into his own Super Saiyan form. "Kamekameha!" he yelled, firing said energy wave-beam. It didn't work, as the energy just fazed right through the darkened humanoid being. Like before, it charged it's own Kamehameha, and aimed it for Goten, who countered with another wave, intiating a beam-struggle. Needless to say, the darkness came out on top, with the loser being forced backwards. "You're right Trunks; this guy IS stong!"

"See what I tell you?" Trunks responded. "The only way I see us beating this thing is if we fuse. You up for that?"

"Sure!" Goten replied. He and Trunks stood quite aways aside, and intitated the Fusion Dance - a technique that allows two people of similar heights and power levels to combine together, bringing out the strongest in both users. However, a fusion using the Fusion Dance only lasts for a set amount of time.

"Fu!" Trunks and Goten yelled. Both boys stretched out their arms, and proceeded to move slightly towards each other, until their fists touched. "Sion!" Then, they quickly arched their arms around themselves, and touched their fingers, yelling, "Ha!" But before the final pose of the Fusion Dance could be done, the darkness released a Kamehameha towards the two boys, essentially preventing their fused form from taking place.

"Goten! Let's do the Fusion around the corner - this thing won't be able to get us there!" Trunks suggested, dashing around the corner. Goten followed, and the two performed the Fusion Dance without any troubles. The fused boy returned, ready to fight. "Alright! Gotenks time!" Super Saiyan Gotenks announced. "But regular Super Saiyan Gotenks isn't enough! We need a Super Saiyan 3!" Gotenks charged up his ki, the ground shaking, small bits of pavement hovering around the fused being. The darkness failed to flinch. Not even when Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks appeared. "Not enough for ya? Well, just deal with it!" Gotenks fired a Cosmic Halo attack - which creates a ring of energy to fit around the opponent, of which can be increased and decreased in size at will, only by the user. However, with the darkness' special properties, Cosmic Halo ended up being a cosmic dud. "What the? Okay, that didn't work. But this isn't over, freak! I'm going to kill you, then who's gonna be just standing there?" He knew that this stranger fighter didn't talk, but he wanted to get the message across. Gotenks charged up, and regurgitated several 'ghosts' of himself. "Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack! Ghosts, get this guy!" Each of the twelve ghosts that were summoned nodded, and surrounded the darkness. However, this technique proved useless, as the darkness charged up a very large and darkened Cosmic Halo attack, big enough to destroy all ghosts at once. This shocked Gotenks. "Okay, that happened. Take this!" Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks charged up a large energy sphere, and released it as an energy wave. Usually, this would split the opponent in half - but the darkness quickly morphed into the dark liquid-like form, and back again shortly after the attack died down. _Argh, this is getting annoying! He keeps blocking every attack I use! What am I gonna do? _Gotenks proceeded to fire a barrage of powerful yellow energy balls; the Continous Die Die Missle technique, followed by a Balloon Flash Bomber. All energy attacks were intercepted with more energy attacks, and the ghosts exploded, coming into contact with darkness ghosts. These dark ghosts only creeped Gotenks out in the slightest. _Energy attacks aren't working...let's try some good ol' fist and kick techniques! _Gotenks tried to use the Wolf Fang Fist, a barrage of punches, but each one fazed right through the dark body. Even a Volleyball Fist didn't do much. However, as Gotenks was going to fire a Kamehameha, a second Cosmic Halo came out from the darkness, of which squeezed Gotenks. Considering there was nothing the fusion could do about this, he had to let this happen. Eventually, Gotenks was forced out of Super Saiyan, and back to his base form. Before long, Goten and Trunks were forced right out of their fusion, and back into themselves, though they were weakened greatly.

"How...how is this thing so strong?" Trunks angrily asked.

"Dad..." Goten faintly said. Both lads were holding themselves, to prevent them from falling to the Earth. "Dad, help...please..."

Suddenly, a beam pierced the back of the darkness, leaving a small hole where the beam shot through. The owner of the attack? None other then Piccolo, an old adversary of Goku's.

"Boys, get out of here." Piccolo ordered. "Go get your fathers."

"Piccolo!" Goten exclaimed, happy to see his brother's old mentor.

"Get out of here!" Piccolo barked. "I don't care who you get, just find someone!"

"Okay." Trunks nodded, slowly flying off towards the Capsule Corporation building, with Goten following.

"Alright you freak, think you're strong enough to take me? You're nothing but darkness - I am the light." Piccolo threatened, taking off his cloak and charging his ki.

Trunks and Goten, still with their injuries, managed to make it to the damaged Capsule Corp HQ. However, since it was slightly out of the way, only the roof was dented. "We've gotta get my dad." Trunks said.

"Why not my dad?" Goten asked.

"It's because mine is closer...and stronger." Trunks explained.

"No way! My dad's stronger!" Goten responded, coughing.

Trunks sighed. "Look Goten, we don't have time for a father vs father argument! Come on!"

"Fine!" Goten pouted, following Trunks into the building. None of the workers seemed to evacuate, most likely because they weren't aware of the darkness. The boys proceeded to the backyard, where they saw Vegeta violently punching and kicking the air in Super Saiyan 2 mode.

They walked up to him, and Trunks got his attention. "Dad!"

"What is it, Trunks?" Vegeta asked, not bothering to turn around.

"There's something weird out there. It seriously hurt Mum and Videl, and even threw us around like we were nothing!" Trunks explained. "We only barely got away. Piccolo's fighting it right now."

Vegeta stood there, silently. He powered down to his base form. "What did it look like?"

"It looked like complete darkness. Like it was made entirely out of it. Totally weird." Trunks replied.

Out of the blue, Vegeta flew away from Capsule Corp, and into the city.

"Come on dad..." Trunks hoped, watching his father fly away. When he had altitude, he spotted multiple things. Certain buildings were damaged, rubble lay in the streets, cars were parked frantically, two bodies were lying in the middle lof the road, and some dark being fighting a Namekian, who he assumed to be Piccolo. Vegeta decided to investigate the bodies first. One, was Videl, whom he did not care for, and Bulma, his wife. His wife was hurt by this thing.

"Ve-Vegeta..." Bulma croaked.

Piccolo was in the middle of fighting the strange darkness. He discovered it's copying abilities, which he noticed was similar to Buu and Cell's, except on a grander scale. He also found it wasn't very fast, as shown when he quickly sped around to the back of the creature, and fired a Special Beam Cannon. Before long, it fired said energy beam right back at him, only it missed. The Namekian was one of the more agile and quicker Z-Fighters, so that was only natural. Energy balls were fired left, right, up and down from both sides. Piccolo wasn't faring well. "Come on, you freak. Is that all you got?" he taunted. He charged up his ki, and formed a large energy sphere in his cupped hands, and released it as soon as it was ready - the Light Grenade. It managed to make a large hole within the darkness, but that only lasted for a couple of seconds, as more darkness built up. Piccolo grunted. "How are we supposed to beat this thing if we can't even harm it?!"

"Move aside, Namekian." Vegeta said, hovering slowly into the space between Piccolo and the darkness. "And I'll show you how it's done."

"Be my guest." Piccolo said, stepping back. "I'd love to see how you, of all people can handle with this."

Vegeta laughed, in his usual cocky way. "Oh believe me, a piece of pathetic darkness is something that I can handle easily."

_Sure it is. _Piccolo thought.

Vegeta looked dead on towards his opponent. "I know exactly what you are." he said, silently, and to himself. He fired a barrage of energy blasts, then an energy wave. The darkness returned the favour by doing precisely the same thing, except following it up by using Piccolo's Light Grenade. Vegeta countered the Light Grenade with his own ball-shaped energy blast attack - the Big Bang Attack. It ripped right through the stolen attack, and made a massive, but pointless, hole. Adding to that, Vegeta fired a Finger Blitz Barrage, and a Galick Blazer, finishing off with a Maximum Flasher. The darkness used the same three atacks, but in reverse order, almost all of them hitting, no matter how fast Vegeta went. "I've had enough!" After yelling this, he transformed into a Super Saiyan 2, completely skipping the original Super Saiyan, and used a Triple Blast, all of which hit the target directly, but as every single attack used on it previously, it fazed right through. The darkness then stole Gotenks' Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack, with only all ghosts exploding around the prince, dealing serious damage. "I refuse to lose to such a pathetic being!" He started charging his ki, firecesomely.

_Vegeta's power is increasing...what happened? _Piccolo thought, shocked by the massive increase in power that he was sensing.

"I'm going to kill you in the most pleasurable way. You hurt my wife...you hurt my Bulma." Vegeta barked, his power increasing. All of a sudden, his Super Saiyan hair started to grow longer, much longer. It grew so long, it reached his thighs. More ki sparks flowed around his body, and oh boy the screams he emitted. It was so loud, it would put a banshee to shame. Piccolo was flinching, even Goten and Trunks could feel it.

Even others, who were elsewhere in the world, could hear it. "Mr. Popo, do you feel that power?" Dende asked.

"I feel it. It's the power of a new Super Saiyan being born. But this one...it has to be the awakening of a new Super Saiyan 3." Mr. Popo suggested.

Even the ones who were on the compass opposite of the planet could feel it. "Is that...Vegeta?!" Krillin rhetorically asked. Android 18 remained silent.

Master Roshi, Yamcha, Oolong, and Turtle each departed from the Kame House, to stare in the exact location where the power was coming from. "Vegeta's done it. He's finally reached Goku's level, once again. He's become a Super Saiyan 3." Master Roshi commented.

"Super Saiyan 3? Gee, I wonder if there's a Super Saiyan 4, or Super Saiyan 5!" Yamcha explained.

Back with Vegeta, his transformation is complete. "I have finally peaked, once more. I have broken past my previous limitations, and have become...a Super Saiyan 3." Vegeta announced. "I will not let you live." He charged straight for the darkness, and released a never ending assault of punches, kicks, and energy barrages. Despite his best attempts, not even Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta could do anything.

_That thing's power has grown to a level where we can no longer fight it. Goku and Gohan are the only ones left who haven't fought it. And they're not here yet. By now, they should of sensed the immense power that Vegeta just released. If that's not enough...then they're hopeless. _Piccolo thought, still observing the fight.

Speaking of Goku and Gohan, they had finished their meal quite some time ago, and were doing some more sparring. But, they stopped when they sense an extra-ordinary power coming from someone they knew. "Vegeta. You've finally done it." Goku commented, in his Super Saiyan 1 form.

"What's he done, father?" Gohan asked, confused. He wasn't entirely used to the power of a Super Saiyan 3, meaning that he wouldn't be able to recognise one if he was relying on sense alone.

"He's become a Super Saiyan 3." Goku explained. "To fight a new threat. Do you feel that extra, unknown power?"

Gohan sensed a little bit in that area, and indeed found an energy level he had not ever sensed before. "Yes. Is that a new evil?" he asked, also in his Super Saiyan 1 form.

"Let's go find out." Goku said, grabbing onto his son's arm and quickly used Instant Transmission to teleport instantly to the area.

"Speaking of the Saiyan." Piccolo commented, once Goku and Gohan appeared out of nowhere beside him. "You sensed Vegeta's Super Saiyan 3?"

"Yep. Sure did." Goku nodded. "I'm glad he managed to reach it. Maybe we'll finally be equal, once again."

"Hopefully." Piccolo said. As he was going to explain to Goku who this new threat was, he already seemed to know.

"So, this thing hasn't got a name yet." Goku brought up. "I say we call it Unknown."

Piccolo facepalmed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, why not?" Goku smiled. "But seriously, what IS this?"

"I...have no idea. But Vegeta seems to have an idea. Why not go ask him?" Piccolo suggested, both seriously and jokingly.

"Alright." Goku responded. "Hey Vegeta, who is this?"

"Kakarot? What are you doing here?" Vegeta answered, having flown over to where the others are.

"Just watchin'." Goku replied. "So, Piccolo tells me you know what this is. Mind sharing?"

"Fine. One moment." Vegeta gave in. He turned around, and fired a simple energy beam at the darkness. "When I was working for Frieza, one of my assignments was to go to Planet Adaptor, where two other Saiyans had been tasked to take it over, and make sure their assignment had been carried out properly. As soon as I got there, I found that they had done the assignment, all side orders completed as well. Only problem was that a family of Adaptors had escaped, but Frieza didn't care about letting one or two inhabitants of a planet go. A trait which made his downfall."

"Your point being?" Piccolo asked.

"My point is the Adaptors. They look EXACTLY like this...thing does." Vegeta explained.

"What do Adaptors do, exactly?" Gohan questioned.

"Hence their name, Adaptors adapt to anything. When they've been around for something long enough...they grow to become one of them. According to Frieza's database, Adaptors, if exposed to something, or lived somewhere long enough, can turn into it, and gain power based on what they've been exposed to. To add to that, pretty much all Adaptors are excellent learners. It is because of these traits which had killed the very two Saiyans that were once set out to take them over. The same ones that used to be stronger." Vegeta explained. "But I wouldn't expect any of you to get that, especially you, Kakarot."

"So you're saying that this thing we've been fighting is an alien, that's been copying our power?" Piccolo rounded up.

"Yes. If you excuse me, I have a loose Adaptor to kill." Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta confirmed, turning around and continuing the fight. Goku, Piccolo, and Gohan patiently watched. Until a certain duo came along to watch.

"Goten?" Gohan asked, as Goten and Trunks arrived on the scene.

"Hey, big brother, and dad!" Goten greeted, hugging his father.

"Hey guys." Trunks also greeted.

"Feeling better, boys?" Piccolo asked.

"Much better. Though we still hurt in places, we're pretty much fine." Trunks explained, after Goten loosened his hug. "Is this thing still not down?"

"No, unfortunately. Your father transformed into a Super Saiyan 3, but that isn't doing anything." Piccolo answered. "One thing I did notice while I was fighting it, and when Vegeta was using all those energy attacks is that the larger the energy wave or ball, the more it disperses into smaller particles. If we use a large enough attack, we should be able to kill it off."

"That...doesn't sound like a bad plan. It makes sense." Gohan commented.

"Well, we won't know until we try." Goku said, transforming into his own Super Saiyan 3 form, and Instant Transmissioning in front of Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta. "Vegeta, Piccolo's got an idea."

"What is it then? Spill it out, for crying out loud!" Vegeta yelled, firing a barrage of energy balls.

"If we create an energy beam large enough to cover this thing, we should be able to get rid of it for good." Goku explained, firing his own energy barrage.

"What are you waiting for? Use that Kamehame-whatever of yours and let's destroy this thing once and for all!" Vegeta ushered. "I'm getting sick and tired of this Adaptor fazing right through my attacks."

"Alright." Goku nodded. He got into the proper stance, and said the good ol' words. "Kame...hame...ha!"

At the same time, Vegeta fired his own wave attack. "Final Flash!" Of course, Piccolo and the three half-Saiyans quickly flew upwards as to not get hit by the joint Kamehameha-Final Flash attack.

"Did they get it?" Gohan asked.

"No, look, there's still some shadows on the ground. That better not be the best they got..." Piccolo noticed.

"Darn! That was the best thing we had!" Goku yelled, annoyed when the darkness reformed.

"Quit your whining, Kakarot. There's still one thing we haven't tried." Vegeta noted.

"A Spirit Bomb?" Goku asked.

"No, but that's certainly an option, if my plan fails." Vegeta realised. "Fusion."

"Fusion? But you hate fusing, don't you?" Goku continued.

"Yes, especially with you, but since there's no other choice, and since this thing hurt Bulma and Trunks...suddenly, I feel a fused Super Saiyan 3 is just what we need." Vegeta explained.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Goku said. He then called over to Gohan. "Hey Gohan, go to the lookout, and get four, maybe five, Senzu Beans."

"Why?" Gohan asked.

"Two for Bulma and Videl, two for the boys, and one for Piccolo." Goku explained.  
"Okay." Gohan said, flying off, towards Kami's Lookout.

Gohan flew directly where he was told to go, but to Korin's Tower instead. Korin is a cat that helped Goku and his friends many times before, and recently, Yajirobe moved in with Korin, helping make and deliver Senzu Beans, magical beans that heal any sort of wounds. Except death. Anyway, before long, Gohan made his way to the tower, where Korin and Yajirobe are simply relaxing. "Oh hey, Gohan." Korin greeted.

"Hi, Korin." Gohan said. "Hi, Yajirobe."

"Hey." Yajirobe calmly replied.

"Looking for Senzu Beans?" Korin asked. "'Cause we got plenty here. We've kinda grown an abundance, and we don't know what to do with them."

"I suggest he fall off this tower, and then eat one." Yajirobe joked.

"Yeah, maybe you can eat one when I smack the upside of your head!" Korin also joked. "So, what'll it be?"

"Senzu Beans. I need at least five." Gohan said. He was thrown a small, brown bag containing seven Senzu Beans.

"Keep the change. Really." Yajirobe said.

"Thanks!" Gohan thanked. "See you guys later!"

"Bye, Gohan." Korin waved.

"See ya." Yajrobe also said, as Gohan flew right out of the tower, Senzu Beans in hand.

Meanwhile, as Gohan was getting the Senzu Beans, Super Saiyan 3 Goku and Vegeta were fighting off the mystery attacker of darkness, revealed by Vegeta to be an Adaptor, an alien race. Despite their biggest and most powerful attacks not working, they had tried everything else in their arsenal of various energy attacks. None of it worked. "Darn. If this isn't working, what else will?" Vegeta asked, frustrated.

"We need to perform the Fusion technique, but we also need someone to cover for us." Goku suggested. "We can't just fuse when it's attacking us."

"Better to wait for Gohan to return with the Senzu Beans. We'll have more of a choice then." Goku said. "There he is!" He sensed Gohan speeding back to West City, and so did everyone else. Before long, he arrived, and delivered the beans to the two fallen ladies. Gohan fed a bean to Videl, then another to Bulma.

The magic took into effect within seconds, as both humans were quickly back into full form. "Thanks, Gohan!" Videl thanked.

"No problem, Videl." Gohan nodded. "The battle's going well, Goku and Vegeta are having a go, and we've figured out a good strategy."

Bulma got up, and also thanked Gohan. "Really? What's that, then?" she asked, dusting herself off.

"They need to make an energy beam so large that it consumes the entire thing, but also powerful enough to completely destroy the shadows." Gohan explained. "The only problem is, none of us have that sort of ability. That's why dad and Vegeta are thinking of fusing."

"Fusing?" Bulma rhetorically asked. "Goku and Vegeta actually fusing...that's a thought."

"Mind if we watch?" Videl added.

"Eh, I guess it can't hurt. Though if things get heavy, you guys get out of there as fast as you can, okay?" Gohan replied.

"Sure." Videl nodded, flying towards the battle scene. Bulma followed, but she didn't fly, as she can't.

"Piccolo, have dad and Vegeta started fusing yet?" Gohan asked, returning to the fight.

"No, they were waiting for you to get back." Piccolo answered, crossing his green arms.

"Why? Couldn't they just-oh, I get it." Gohan realised. "You've already fought it, haven't you?"

"Yes. I was no match for it." Piccolo sighed. "I'm guessing they figure that you might want to have a shot."

Gohan moved over to Goten and Trunks, and gave them a Senzu Bean to eat, each. "Thanks, big brother!" Goten thanked, eating his bean.

"Yeah, thanks." Trunks also thanked, also eating his Senzu Bean.

"Gohan?" Goku called, firing an energy blast barrage at the Adaptor.

"What is it, dad?" Gohan replied.

"Can you cover for us while we fuse?" Goku asked.

"Sure thing, dad!" Gohan nodded, transforming into a Super Saiyan 2. Fun fact: Gohan was the first one to reach a Super Saiyan 2 form. "Alright, you piece of darkness! Get ready!" He fired a Super Masenko - a stronger variant of the Masenko technique. Much like any other energy attack before it, the Super Masenko did not work. It wasn't strong enough, and it clearly wasn't large enough.

As this was going on, Goku and Vegeta were preparing the fusion dance. The first fusion of two Super Saiyan 3s. "Fu!" they both yelled. "Sion!" As they were saying this, they followed the same moves that Goten and Trunks followed. "Ha!" With that, Goku and Vegeta had successfully fused. Reborn was a fusion matched by no other...this being walked straight for the Adaptor. Everyone halted, Gohan, Piccolo - everyone. They witnessed the new warrior walk silently towards their foe. The foe that had destroyed the entirety of West City.

"I, am Super Gogeta!" Super Saiyan 3 Gogeta yelled, charging up an enormous amount of ki.

"Gogeta? That's the name of their fusion?" Piccolo asked. "Nice."

"It's cool!" Goten said.

Gogeta fired an attack called the Stardust Breaker - an attack where the user throws a piece of energy stardust, and guides it, striking at the opponent multiple times. It eventually exploded when Gogeta opened his fist. Shadows from the Adaptor spread out wide, but were not gone. "I've gotta do this quick. Fusions don't last too long, especially when in Super Saiyan 3, and when one of you is Kakarot." Gogeta commented.

"Hey, Gogeta! Don't fire your next attack from there!" Gohan suggested.

"Why not?" Gogeta responded.

"Because, you have a better chance of getting all of it encased in your attack if you do it from above!" Gohan explained, making sense.

"Hm, I suppose." Gogeta admitted. The fusion flew upwards, just above his opponent. However, he didn't account for various energy attacks, stolen from his two half-families, being fired right at him. Masenko, Cosmic Halo, Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack, Final Flash, and the like. "I can't attack if I'm constantly being repelled."

Goten, Trunks and Gohan fired all their best energy attacks. "We'll get it's attention! You charge up your attack!" Trunks yelled, releasing his Buster Cannon attack.

"Right." Gogeta nodded. He cupped his hands, seemingly preparing for a Kamehameha attack. As the energy was large enough, he brought it out to the front, where he only inserted more and more energy into it. When it was done, he yelled, "Super, Big Bang, Kamehameha!" The released wave definitely fell into the category for defeating the Adaptor. It was giant, and boy was it powerful.

However, that wasn't it. Some shadows remained in the air. _As long as there's still some shadows, this thing will continue to exist. _He then released several energy spheres, directly towards the remaining remnants of his opponent.

Nothing was there. When the Z-Fighters tried to sense the presence of the darkness - nothing was there. It was gone.

"I've won." Gogeta announced. "We've won." He de-fused back into Goku and Vegeta.

"That wasn't difficult." Vegeta commented. "I could of handled that by myself."

"Heh, probably." Goku humoured. Obviously, Vegeta didn't seem to be doing that when he fought it. But it doesn't matter - the battle was won. The game was over.

"Was that it?" Piccolo questioned, not believing it for a second.

"Sure was. I can't sense it anymore." Gohan answered.

Goku and Vegeta walked over. "Well, that was a good day's fight. Bring on the food!"

Everyone laughed. They laughed as the sun shone right over them.

"Wait a minute. Don't we need to use the Dragon Balls?" Bulma asked.

"There wasn't any casualties, were there?" Videl added.

"No...I don't think so. Although this monster did destroy _parts _of this _entire city_, I hardly think anybody could be deceased because of this thing. Surely, if it were stronger, it probably would of." Piccolo commented. "If someone does turn up dead, I wouldn't recommend the Dragon Balls."

"Why not?" Trunks asked.

"Because, as I just said, this thing wasn't powerful enough to destroy the city. It only made small dents in the walls, where debris fell off. Highly unlikely anybody could die from that." Piccolo added. "Plus, if someone dies, it'll just be one or two people. That would class as a misuse, since it's such a small amount. It's pointless."

"Piccolo has a point, I guess." Bulma said. "We'll just wait and see. The officials can clean up this mess easily."

Minutes later, Goku, Gohan and Goten waved goodbye to Bulma, Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, and Videl, the former of the first three using Instant Transmisson to teleport back to their home. Only Bulma, Trunks and Videl waved back. Piccolo flew off in some direction, for whatever reason, and Videl flew back to Hercule City. Maybe the ice cream strike has ended.

The fight was over. The world is at peace once more because of the Z-Fighters' brave fighting and clever thinking. Thank you, Z-Fighters.

_**Author Notes: **_**Hope you enjoyed that-oh wait? It's not my cue yet? Sorry.**

Darkness formed in a barren wasteland. It was big, it was strong. A new threat was coming.

_**Author Notes: **_**Okay, NOW it's my cue. Thanks for reading. Remember, this is a one-shot. No chapter two or anything like that.**

**Luster the Cat 24 should be released very soon.**


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